Dice Games

Going to Town
Part 5 of 11
by Mark A. Jindra

Going to Town
Going to Town almost always takes the name of a large city as its
location; for instance, Going to Waterdeep in the Forgotten Realms,
or Going to Sharn in Eberron.
Three 6-sided dice are most commonly used; however, the use of 4 or
even 8-sided dice is not unheard of. The game is fast and easy, and
best when played with four or more players.
Each player in turn has three throws of the dice. On the first throw, the
highest number is set aside. If two or more dice show the highest
number, then only one is kept. The remaining two dice are thrown
again, and the highest is again set aside. The final die is rolled, and the
total of all three is the player's score. The player with the highest score,
after each player has had a turn, wins that round. A set number of
rounds are played, and the player who wins the most is the overall
winner. (Note: Rolling three 6-sided in this fashion is an optional
method for generating characters' ability scores--albeit artificially
higher ones.)

Setting Sail
A variant of Going to Town known as Setting Sail is sometimes played in port cities and aboard sailing vessels.
In this game, the sum of the first two dice are multiplied by the third, instead of the total of all three.

This game requires three 4, 6, or 8-sided dice (3d4, 3d6, or 3d8). This game is based on dice game known as
Going to Boston a lso known as Yankee Grab and Newmarket.

Dice Weirdos
For those who missed the original article, we discussed the various superstitions folks here at Wizards of the
Coast harbor about rolling their dice--and, of course, asked for your superstitions and stories as well! This time
we share a few stories of colossally improbable odds:

This isn't so much a quirk as it is a miracle. It was before game time and we were calling our percentage shots.
For instance, "I'm going to roll an 87". Then we'd roll percentiles and see if it came up.
Well, it was my turn. "I'm going to roll double ought." For those not in the know an 'ought' is also known as a
zero, and a double zero is effectively 100 (yes, this was 2nd edition). Lo and behold that's what I rolled!
Well I was telling this story to two of my players and for effect I picked up the same percentiles and rolled them
as I repeated, "...and I said 'I'm going to roll double ought'". Well, I did roll double ought...again! I didn't even
realize it until I saw the horrified look on their faces. I glanced down and there they were, two zeroes staring right
back at me. The two of them had second thoughts about participating in the game that night for fear of my die
rolling karma.
--Andrew
This was about 14 years ago, and we were playing AD&D 2nd edition. Mike's character needed to make a
resurrection survival check. The character had a 98 or 99% chance of success. Mike was in the other room
getting a Coke.

The DM called for him to hurry. He replied, "Just have John roll it." I said, "Okay, but don't blame me if I get a
double-ought." Mike: "You won't, just roll it." Me: "Wanna bet?"

I rolled a double-ought. Mike was really mad. I love coincidences.

--John

Feedback
If you use a dice game in your own campaigns, here's your chance to share it. Send it in to:
dndcolumn@wizards.com, and we may feature it in a future edition of Dice Games!

About the Author

Mark A. Jindra has been a fan of Dungeons & Dragons for over 25 years. In 1998 he landed his dream job as a
web developer for Wizards of the Coast and is currently the developer of the D&D website.

1995-2006 Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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